Brad Fuller

Principal

International Day of People with Disability

Every year on the 3rd of December, people around the world celebrate International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD). It is a day to promote awareness, understanding and acceptance in our community. To celebrate here at St. Joseph’s each class will participate in an interactive lesson that will strengthen our students understanding of the importance of removing barriers for people with disability and ensuring everyone has an opportunity to participate.

Holiday Programs

Red Frog For Families is based in Broadmeadow. There is a team of allied health professionals, aiming to empower people with disabilities. During the January school holidays the clinic is running some fantastic programs that will help children explore outside of their comfort zone and create new friendships while working as a team. The sessions will focus on developing social skills, creativity, ideation and resilience in different environments. Red Frog for Families - Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Music Therapy (rf4f.com.au)

Greetings from St Joseph’s Library.
The term is passing by so quickly, it’s amazing to think that we are already in week 8.

The end of the year is very busy for Library staff as we return all student and teacher loans and complete a stocktake. Last week was the final week for borrowing and we ask that you please help your children return any books they have borrowed to the library this week.

This includes any readers.

 ALL library books and readers are due back to the                          library by week 8.

Last week students that completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge celebrated with a Pizza Party. The students were so excited and spoke about it for days. PRC certificates should arrive in the next week.

                            Library Lunchtime fun

The Library is open during lunch times on Wednesday – Friday and the children love coming in to enjoy books, chess, games and writing or drawing. It is a great social activity for them and it’s lovely to watch them interact with each other and enjoy creating. Students are also able to borrow during lunchtimes on these days.

Bookclub

At St Joseph’s we participate in Scholastic Book Club. This provides families with an easy way to encourage your children to read. Twice each term students will bring home a catalogue of affordable and fun books that you may purchase. All money spent through Book Club benefits the school, as a percentage of money raised is given back to the school as reward points for the Library to purchase fantastic resources.

The current Bookclub is due: December 1st

Library Helpers

I am very blessed to have some wonderful helpers in the library. Our Library monitors volunteer at lunchtimes to help organise resources, put books away, keep the Library neat and tidy and help create displays. THANK YOU to those students.

Many parents and carers often wonder if a book is appropriate for their child. 

A great resource to help with this is Common Sense Media. This website allows parents/carers to search books, games, apps, movies and websites to view whether it is age appropriate and what its content contains.

                    Sora                   

St Joseph’s has a subscription to SORA. Sora is an eBook and audio book 

Library. As part of the Australian Catholic Education Network (ACEN) member collection, your child can access eBooks and audio books through the Maitland Newcastle Diocese.

 All you need to do is to download the SORA app or go to the website and sign in using the 

ACEN membership and your child’s Maitland Newcastle username and password

(you can get this from your child’s teacher)

then you and your child can enjoy some terrific books on your devices at home.

One of the great features of SORA is the inclusion of a Premier Reading Challenge book section.

Graphic novels, Fiction and Non-Fiction books are also available.

Log in and explore today.   

If you have any questions about anything in the Library feel free to send me an email.

Happy reading,

Leah Hannan

leah.hannan@mn.catholic.edu.au

Advent

A new liturgical year begins this coming weekend, on the 1st Sunday of Advent.
Advent is a time for hopeful anticipation and joyful preparation for the celebration of Christmas. Advent and Christmas offer us the opportunity to prayerfully commemorate the birth of Jesus and to become more aware of God’s presence in our everyday lives.
The traditional Advent colour of violet, in Australia we see this colour blooming around us at this time with the Jacaranda trees and agapanthus and we are filled with a sense of anticipation. The word Advent literally means ‘coming.’ We wait for God’s coming into our midst now, just as the world waited so many years ago.
This coming Monday, 4th December, we will mark the beginning of Advent with a prayer and the lighting of the first Advent candle during morning assembly. This first candle, which is purple, symbolizes hope. It is sometimes called the “Prophecy Candle” in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ. It represents the expectation felt in anticipation of the coming of Jesus. Please join us under the COLA at 8:43 if you would like to join us for prayer.
On Tuesday, 5th December we will have our Christmas liturgy where the infants' classes will lead us in celebrating the story of Christmas. We will also be donating our Christmas Hamper goods to a local CatholicCare. These items will be distributed to families in need across Hunter-Manning area. Thank you for your support to those in most need in our local community.
If you haven’t donated yet and would like suggestions of what to buy, please click the link to CatholicCare’s website https://www.catholiccare.org.au/community-programs/community-kitchens/christmas-hamper-drive-2023/ Items need to be brought into school buy the morning of 5th December, to ensure we can give them to the CatholicCare representative at our liturgy.

2023 Vinnies Youth NSW Christmas Card Competition

Global Gifts Caritas Australia

A Global Gift is a donation to Caritas Australia made on behalf of another. Your Global Gift will bring hope and joy to the world’s most vulnerable people. If you are looking for charitable Christmas gifts to purchase for loved ones here is a link to Caritas Australia’s Global Gifts:

https://www.caritas.org.au/global-gifts/

Remembrance Day

We are so proud of Hamish McLaren who participated in the Remembrance Day ceremony at Toronto Goffett Park as a member of the 217 Army Cadets Unit.

Hamish did a great job handing out order of service booklets to the public and laid a tribute at the war memorial on behalf of his cadet unit. He has served his community and the school so well.

Term 4 dates for the diary:

• 4^th December: Advent Morning Liturgy 8.43am under the COLA
• 5^th December: Christmas Liturgy at 9.30am in the Hall
• 11^th December: Advent Morning Liturgy
• 13^th December: Year 6/End of Year Liturgy

Blessings,

Taylor James

RE Co-ordinator

It has been another exciting and busy year for our 20 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. In addition to receiving academic and pastoral support, as needed, our students have engaged in a range of cultural learning experiences appropriate to their age and Stage of Learning.

Celebrations

This year we decided to make our own Aboriginal Cross for use in our community celebrations of NAIDOC Week, Sorry Day and Harmony Day. Our cross includes designs that relate to Awabakal learning places and utilises sacred ochre.

Coolamons

We have been learning about how to identify the appropriate types of trees, within our local area, for cutting coolamons. This includes the best season for harvesting, different ways of hardening them (sand / water) and the wide range of uses in traditional culture. Our students have also collaborated together to represent, in painting, the important journey and contribution of one of our SJKB leaders.

Boondi Digging Clubs

Students have learnt about the process for making Boondi Digging Clubs that includes the selection of wood from trees in our immediate local area (She Oak), seasoning and hardening of the wood, shaping of the club and the application in traditional culture.

Non-returning Boomerangs

Building on our learning from 2022, students have been learning about local sources of timber for boomerang making. This year we have included Mangrove Trees in our non-returning boomerangs. We’ve played Boomerang Golf, some controlled target games and held a “longest throw” challenge. Congratulations to James in Year 1 who remains our current SJKB Open Champion with a throw of 34 metres.

Awabakal Dreaming Stories

We’ve also taken some time to learn more about our local Awabakal Dreaming Stories. The two main stories for 2023 have been the Monster of Mount Sugarloaf and The Kangaroo that lives inside Nobbys. We have visited both locations to explore country and context in order to build a better understanding of the meaning of the stories in relation to the past, present and future.

Fish Traps

Moving on from our successful catch and release of a very large and healthy Short-finned Eel in 2022, our students have built their own trap from materials sourced in our local environment. They learnt the Gumbaynggirr string/rope fibre technique in order to join parts of the fish trap together. Whilst we didn’t catch and release another eel, we welcomed a small bream and two young Yabbies within the tidal limit of our creek!

Numeracy

We experimented with an educational direct instruction technique as used in Aboriginal Schools in the north of our country led by Mr. Noel Pearson, former Chairman of the Northern Land Council. Our students’ knowledge and understanding of the concept of multiplication was mapped across K-6 and appropriate starting points for learning identified for each student. The results of this 12 week project were impressive in terms of learning gain. Nearly 70% of our students now know all of their basic multiplication facts – this includes two students in Year 1.

Literacy

Literacy check-ins with our students have continued each semester throughout the year. These relate to measurements in Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) and MAZE (Reading Comprehension) from the University of Oregon. These provide a picture of where each student sits with regard to the beginning, middle and end of a chronological school year. The data from these check-ins is shared with Classroom Teachers.

Digital Technologies

Students have enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about algorithmic thinking, coding and robotics utilising our collection of Sphero Robots and iPads. This has involved simple motion exercises, drawing-type challenges, block-based coding and advanced problem solving.

Merry Xmas to all!

John Hession
Aboriginal Education Teacher/Learning Support Teacher (CILS) Gifted Education Mentor
St Joseph's Primary School
Kilaben Bay

Tuesday 21/11/23 was a red-letter day for the 37 students who graduated from the 2023 Children's University. With mortars and gowns worn proudly, they crossed the stage of the Great Hall at the University of Newcastle to collect their certificates that acknowledge 30 hours of learning outside of school learning.

The Great Hall has been the launch pad for many scientists, doctors, politicians, academics, teachers and nurses in our local area. Who knows what the future holds for our graduates!

Students explored new hobbies, new sports, new art, new music and new STEM ideas to earn their hours. Children's University is a testament to the idea that learning happens everywhere, not just in the classroom. Our students should be very proud of their achievements. They certainly enjoyed the very special recognition they received from the staff at the University and their very proud parents and families.

Anne Neems

Children's University Coordinator
Primary Coordinator / 3/4 Blue Teacher
St Joseph's Primary School
Kilaben Bay

Here is the latest menu for your reference.

Please send any questions to admin@kilabenbay.catholic.edu.au or call the school office on 4959 1355

Some reminders:

Pre-ordered frozen beverages

Supply Changes

Please note that vegemite scrolls are no longer available and bacon and cheese rolls continue to be available for the moment.

Lunch Orders

Volunteer Roster

Every helper is so appreciated and we extend our sincere thanks to our wonderful regulars, together with the new volunteers who are just starting out.  Although a couple of new people have registered (big thanks!), we will need more people.  As with any volunteer position at school you must be registered.

If you are able to offer help, please send an email to admin@kilabenbay.catholic.edu.au and Linda or Susie will help with your volunteer registration.   

See the Roster below.  Thank you to our wonderful volunteers!  Your children would not benefit from all the canteen has to offer without you!!

If you are unable to make it on your rostered day, please either text Tracey or call the school office.

Term 4

Week 8

Wed 29.11.23 - Alesha Quinn, Helen Edwards

Thur 30.11.23 - Tania Bower, Elise Fitzpatrick

Fri 1.12.23 - Sheree Williams, Emily Sault, Kylie Wilkinson

Week 9

Wed 6.12.23 - Michelle Cherniayeff, Emma Douglas/Cal

Thur 7.12.23 - Yasmin Every Burns, Andrew Edwards

Fri 8.12.23 - Sarah Morris, Cheryl Henriques

Week 10

Wed 13.12.23 - Michelle Cherniayeff, Ruth Byron

Thur 14.12.23 - Nicole Davison, Help Needed

Fri 15.12.23 - Jenna Lorriman, Ewelina Bursa

Over the Counter Sales / Recess Qkr ordering

Some healthy snack items are available for pre-order and payment on Qkr for Recess.

If you would like your child to have a recess snack, please place a comment in the "note to staff" section when selecting your item.

Thank you

Tracey Ryan-Ward 

All outstanding 2023 school fees are now overdue.
Please finalise your account as soon as possible.

Collection of school fees is crucial to our ability to effectively provide quality education for our students. The fees go directly to paying for new technology, resources for the classroom, experiences for students such as excursions, costs of buses etc.

All families will be required to nominate either weekly, fortnightly, or monthly contributions to school fees. This will assist in ensuring that families are able to stay up to date with fees and prevent debt rolling over into an amount that becomes onerous to pay off. In order for students to attend excursions, school camps, incursions etc. school fees will need to be up to date with whatever fee frequency arrangement has been made at the beginning of the year.

Currently, arrears of $86,228 are overdue at our school.

As always, if a family is experiencing financial hardship, it is imperative that you contact the school to make an appointment to meet and discuss school fees, so that a payment plan can be arranged, and families are supported.

Thank you

Linda Garreffa

School Administration Officer

How to Order

Thanks to everyone who has placed orders via the link for second hand school items (link below)

PLUS second hand uniform request

Hats can also be ordered via our system please specify new or used in the comments.

PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR CHILD'S NAME AND CLASS in the message as our volunteers do not have access to the different family surnames to make connections to students - therefore use your child's name first, then your name, especially if different surname.  Payment is via the Qkr! app. 

Thank you!

THE PLUS TEAM

The Guitar group will be playing at Assembly on Week 9 - Wednesday 6th December

The children continue to enjoy their guitar lessons so if you would like your child to learn guitar:  We have a guitar group here at St Joseph's where children receive tuition from professional teachers at school.  For more information, please contact Ricky direct on 0407 534 944: